Authorities in Moscow have detained a deputy prime minister of Crimea’s Russia-imposed government, Vitaly Nakhlupin, for alleged bribe-taking.
Igor Mikhailichenko, Crimea's deputy prime minister, said in a statement on October 17 that he had informed the peninsula’s prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov, about the detainment.
Mikhailichenko said the details of the case cannot be disclosed as an investigation is under way.
Aksyonov said in a statement on Facebook that Nakhlupin’s detention was linked to investigations against unspecified regional officials and state "structures."
Nakhlupin, 52, has served as Crimea's deputy prime minister since January 2016.
He previously led the Crimean parliament's committee for economic, financial, and tax policies.
Nakhlupin is not the first deputy prime minister to be detained after Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Kazurin was arrested in January 2017 and later sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison on bribery charges.